RAF Bottesford
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RAF Bottesford USAAF Station AAF-481  
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RAF Bottesford, April 1944. Today, most of the airfield remains intact.
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Royal Air Force station | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Air Ministry | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator |
Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces |
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| Location | Bottesford, Leicestershire | ||||||||||||||||||
| Built | 1940 | ||||||||||||||||||
| In use | 1941-1948 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 108 ft / 33 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 52°57′50″N 000°46′54″W / 52.96389°N 0.78167°WCoordinates: 52°57′50″N 000°46′54″W / 52.96389°N 0.78167°W | ||||||||||||||||||
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 RAF Bottesford
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Royal Air Force Bottesford or more simply RAF Bottesford is a former Royal Air Force station located on the Leicestershire-Lincolnshire county border, 6.8 miles (10.9 km) north west of Grantham, Lincolnshire and 7.6 miles (12.2 km) south of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire and about 107 miles (172 km) north-northwest of London, England.
Opened in 1942, it was used by both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). During the war it was used primarily as a troop carrier airfield for paratroopers and as a bomber airfield before closing in 1948.
Today the remains of the airfield are located on private property with the technical site being used as an industrial estate.
The airfield was opened as a RAF Bomber Command station in No. 5 Group RAF area during the autumn of 1941, with No. 207 Squadron RAF moving in with its troublesome Avro Manchesters during November. However, because of continual difficulties experienced with their Rolls-Royce Vulture engines operations were frequently curtailed, but in March 1942 the squadron was able to step up its bombing raids on Germany when it became one of the first to receive the new Avro Lancaster in March 1942.
No. 207 Sqnn left in September 1942 for RAF Langar and in November a new Australian manned squadron, No. 467 Squadron RAAF, arrived in November 1942 commencing operations on the night of 2/3 January 1943.
It was first occupied by the 50th Troop Carrier Wing Headquarters on 15 November. It was then opened as a reception base for Douglas C-47/C-53 Skytrain groups that were scheduled to fly in from the United States.
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Wikipedia